Good afternoon,
The demonstrations at the Vienna Wireless Winterfest were quite a success. We made two QSOs on the 1230Z pass of VO-52 and an outstanding 11 QSOs on the 1347Z pass of FO-29.
Thanks to AC0RA and KD8LMI operating as W1AW/8 for the QSOs on the VO-52 pass.
Thanks to AC0RA, W5PFG, AA5PK, W3KXR, K4FEG, WC7V, WD9EWK, CO6CBF, KD8LMI operating as W1AW/8, N5ZNL, and W7JPI for the QSOs on the FO-29 pass.
I was using my normal portable satellite station of a Yaesu FT-817 (with blown finals - don't need them to receive!). a Yaesu FT-817ND, High Sierra Microwave preamps (LNAA146FIL for 2m, LNAA432 for 70cm), and an Elk antenna for the demonstrations.
There were probably about a dozen people in and out observing the demonstrations, plus others watching from a distance.
Following the demonstration, Steve, KS1G, presented a great introduction to AMSAT and satellite operating in a classroom forum with about 20 hams in attendance.
After the forum, we went back outside to capture some telemetry from FUNcube-1 as it passed over at about 1530Z and captured 25 frames with Steve's FUNcube Dongle, Elk antenna, and a Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet. Only 25 frames were captured because it was the first time I had used the FUNcube Dongle and the Dashboard is not quite designed for touchscreen input! We were able to show the realtime and whole orbit data collected and read several fitter messages.
Thanks to the Vienna Wireless Society for giving us the opportunity to both demonstrate amateur satellite operation and make a presentation. Also, thanks to two VWS Directors, John, KJ4YHC, and Ian, N0IMB, for filming the demonstrations and interviewing me about my portable satellite station. I will share the interview video with the BB when they post it.
In the meantime, I have posted a short video of the QSO with W1AW/8 from the hamfest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ogW_u80o4
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC